Desperate chances, honest mistakes
by orange twilight
Summary: Harry and co have to protect Draco on a long and dangerous journey. the ______ are to seperate text, please r&ri'm having real problems with formatting
1. protection

Title- Desperate chances, honest mistakes. Summary- Draco, Harry, Ron and Hermione have to learn to get along, lives are depending on it. But can they really be trusted? Rating- PG13- for now but it might change later. Disclaimer- They are all mine, mine I tell you, Harry and Ron and Hermione oh and defiantly Draco, oh and the grass is pink!!!!! (Sirens can be heard in the back ground.) No let go of me, I'm not mad (evil cackle). (Serious cough) sorry about that my insane alter ego is under control now the sedative normally lasts hours, so fingers crossed. I can categorically tell you that I don't own the characters, (sigh) if I did do you think I'd be writing fan fiction about them?? Author's note- Please, please read and review!!!  
  
'The Wizarding world news has to interrupt your programme for this emergency news briefing. You-know-who's reign of terror has finally been put to a stop. Tom Riddle aka Lord Voldermort has died, the news of his downfall is still filtering out from Ministry officials, but his brunt and broken body has left no doubts this time as to his fate. In other news we here at WWN can officially tell our listeners that the innermost circle of his followers have been captured and sent to Azkaban, where they await the dementer's kiss. Lucius Malfroy, you-know-who's right hand man is among those captured. However Lucius's young son and latest recruit Draco remains one of the most controversial decisions the ministry has made. It is widely believed within the wizarding community that he is a death eater and more than that one of you-know-who's most trusted followers. The ministry refused to comment this morning on why Draco Malfroy was not sharing his father's cell. Albus Dumbledore, the quirky headmaster of Hogwarts, is thought to be Draco's main supporter. Dumbledore said that "He is innocent until proven guilty not guilty until proven innocent." This would not be the first time that Dumbledore has risked his student's lives in order to make a point.'  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
It was a wet and windy night in late September; Harry peered wistfully out of the window in the Gryffindor common room. Whilst wind and rain weren't per se his favourite things anything was better than the potions homework he was trying valiantly not to do. He looked across the table where Hermione was beavering through it, she had tried to explain it to him over and over again, but he just couldn't understand why it was all important anyway, all he wanted to do was play Quidditch and survive the year with as little incident as was possible. Whilst the pervious 5 years at Hogwarts had been a dream come true, he was getting tired of people trying to kill him. "Harry." Hermione could see the far away look in Harry's eyes. "Don't forget your homework."______ "Huh? Yeah, err.no, of course not I was just thinking about." He faltered. "Umm, the umm ingredients of . hang on .of."______ "The simple sleeping potion?"______ "Yeah."______ "It's a shame that the homework is on the truth draught then isn't it?" She smiled.______ "Hey! I knew that." He looked at her. "Alright so I got a little side tracked, have you finished yet?" He asked hopefully.______ "You know you're not copying Harry, look it's quite simple." She proceeded to tell Harry again about the properties of the potion.______ "It's not my fault I can't concentrate on it, I'm worried about Ron."______ Hermione put down her quill and studied Harry for a moment. "I know," she said eventually. "But it's hardly life threatening."______ "Even so I find the fact that Ron is lying in the hospital wing, a little distracting." He paused. "We need to get revenge on Malfroy; he can't be allowed to go around doing that to people."______ "Well Ron was provoking him."______ "So! You're not on His side are you?"______ "No, I want Malfroy to get what he deserves just as much as you do, but I don't want to get into trouble with Snape because of him either."______ "But Snape is not going to punish him, a slap on the back and congratulations maybe but not punishment. We have to do something; he can't go around thinking that it's okay to curse us."______ "And you want to curse him?"______ "Well yeah."______ "Talk about fighting fire with fire, are you sure that it will make him stop?"______ "He's a Malfroy it's the only language they understand."______ "You've got a point there, look Ron will be back tomorrow, let's just wait till then okay."______ "Alright."______  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Dumbledore was worried, he hated to admit it, but there it was staring him in the face. The annoying thing was that he didn't know exactly what he was worried about; he just knew that it was something important. Being headmaster of Hogwarts had taught him several things and one was to have an extremely patient patience. News filterers slowly through the magical hierarchy, Dumbledore supposed that events were already underway, cogs turning in dangerous directions waiting for him to catch up, no doubt that someone would come rushing in any minute now, he just had to wait. "Ahh professor McGonagall, what a surprise."______ "Albus." She had long ago learnt that Dumbledore had a knack for expecting the unexpected.______ "What can I do for you at this late hour, would you like a cup of tea?"______ "Ron Weasley is currently under the care of Madame Pomfry, again."______ "Again?"______ "Second time since the beginning of term."______ "And the culprit is?"______ "Draco Malfroy, again. This has to stop."______ "What has Professor Snape done?"______ "He claims to be unaware of Draco's behaviour. I've just about had it, will you please have a word with him."______ "Who?"______ "Professor Snape, he shows that boy unbelievable favouritism."______ "Just because you decide not to favour your students above others does not mean that it is wrong for others to do so." ______ "But Draco cannot think that he is above the rules of the school, I will not allow him to go around practicing his latest curses and potions on my students."______ "What do you suggest we do?"______ "The real problem is that Draco seems to loathe Harry Potter and will do anything to hurt him."______ "Then this is the issue we should tackle."______ She sighed deeply. "But how Albus? I've tried to think of things but."______ "I'm sure that with a little patience an opportunity will present itself."______ "Do you really believe that?"______ "I have learnt the hard way that things have a habit of working out the way you want them to."______ "Very well."______ Professor McGonagall turned and left Dumbledore's study. He sat watching the door long after she had disappeared through it. 'How very interesting', he thought to himself, 'I wonder what's next for Mr Potter, Malfroy, Weasley and Miss Granger?'  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~ Harry, Ron and Hermione were sat eating breakfast in the great hall. "So how are you feeling Ron?" Harry asked.______ "I'll be feeling a lot better when I see Malfroy in the hospital wing."______ "Are you sure that it's wise?" Hermione asked, ever the voice of reason.______ "What do you mean?" Ron asked baffled.______ "All I'm saying is that Snape would." She trailed off______ "I don't care how many points he takes off us! Nobody would care, after what's he's done. He's a . Death eater Hermione."______ "Yeah he is, and I'm sure that you were near the top of his list, what with being friends with me and everything, he's probably just waiting for the opportunity to . you know."______ "You really think so? But Dumbledore he."______ "I don't want to risk it Hermione." Harry said.______ "Hey why's everyone gone so quiet?" Ron asked.______ A deathly silence had enveloped the hall; all the students were staring at the Slytherin table. Harry had to stand up slightly to see just what the fuss was about but as he stood up the slivery blonde head of hair told him all he needed to know. 'Malfroy' he thought to himself, he could feel a knot in his stomach returning. Hermione appeared next to him. "How can he just sit there?" She asked her voice barely a whisper.______  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~ Draco could feel the eyes of everyone in the hall staring at him. He pretended not to notice, not to give them the satisfaction of knowing that it bothered him, that was a sign of weakness and he couldn't afford any. He'd been so relieved when the news had broken that Voldermort was dead, foolishly he'd thought that that would be the end of it and he could go on trying to forget. He knew that he would get some trouble at the beginning of term, what with the whole 'scandal' and everything, but they'd been back nearly a month now and still rooms went quite when he entered, nobody wanted to talk to him, even the Slytherins it seemed weren't proud of their dark roots. And on top of it all Weasley didn't seem to want to leave him alone.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~ Dumbledore sat watching his students and how their behaviour changed when Draco entered the room from his vantage point at the head table. 'It probably doesn't help', he mused, 'that his appearance is so striking'. Draco had grown his hair and stopped gelling it back it hung lose around his shoulders. He was tall and athletically built. Impossible to miss. His eyes then flicked across the room to where Harry was sitting with his friends. The similarities between Harry and Draco were astounding, they were both infamous because of the same person, a person who had destroyed their families all be it in different ways, if only they could see how much more they had in common. Dumbledore watched as the owls flew into the room and normal conversation returned he saw the school owls delivering their messages to Harry, Draco, Ron and Hermione, telling them to come to his office after the last class. Only an hour ago Dumbledore had been talking to Fudge, the top man at the Ministry of magic. It had been a worrying conversation, and Fudge had revealed that Draco's role in this was far from over.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~ "Right before you go, don't anyone forget that I want the complete list of all the uses of Boomslang by next week." Professor Snape said with a smile. The class groaned and ran for the door.______ "That's going to take hours." Ron complained.______ "Not really." Hermione said, "You just need to find the right book, that's all."______ "All!" Ron cried indignantly.______ Harry started to laugh. "Here we go again." He said______ They walked in a comfortable silence down the hall, Harry turned to go to their tower. "Harry, we've got to see Dumbledore remember?" Hermione said.______ "Oh god yeah, if it's about you and Draco Ron I swear."______ "Hey!"______ "I'm only kidding, let's go."______  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~ Draco sat in Dumbledores office in silence, apparently they were waiting for someone else to arrive, but Dumbledore wouldn't tell him who, he had a feeling however that he wasn't going to like it. Dumbledore watched as the door opened. "Ahh, Mr Potter, Mr Weasley and Miss Granger so glad you could make it."______ They walked towards his desk taking the vacant chairs. "You." Ron shouted stopping dead at the sight of Draco. Draco merely glanced at Ron let out an exasperated sigh and returned to his study of the arm of his chair.______ "What's he doing here?" Ron asked indignantly.______ "All will become clear in time, Mr Weasley if you would like to take a seat."______ Ron sat down and made a big show of moving the chair as far away from Draco as he could.______ "As you all know Voldermort is dead. I hope you do not mind me using his name? Well, however where Voldermort is concerned things are never that simple. Your father Draco." Dumbledore looked at him waited until Draco looked back before continuing. "The Ministry has reason to believe that as Voldermorts right hand man, your father will know the location of various missing objects that the ministry would like to find." He left a pause as Draco shook his head. "I've been asked to allow you to travel to Azkaban to retrieve the necessary information."______ "No." Draco said staring straight at Dumbledore. "No."______ "Unfortunately this matter isn't open to discussion."______ "I'm not going."______ "Why not Malfroy, you should feel right at home there." Ron said not bothering to hide the disgust in his voice.______ "And maybe you'd like to retire to the hospital wing, I'd more than happy to accommodate you."______ "That's enough." Dumbledore said. "There is more."______ "Professor?" Hermione asked. "Why are we here?"______ "An excellent question Miss Granger, Draco cannot travel with ministry officials as his father needs to believe that he is doing this from his own free will."______ Draco laughed. "He also cannot travel alone; due to recent events it's too dangerous for him to do so. This is where you come in."______ "What?" Harry said figuring out what Dumbledore meant. "You want us to go with him?"______ "Yes exactly."______ "No way I mean he ."______ "Mr Weasley, I can understand how this is not the most pleasant idea for any of you, but it has already been decided."______ "We have to protect him?" Hermione asked.______ "Yes."______  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~ 


	2. a truce

"Why? Why us?" Ron complained to Hermione. "I know that it's going to be difficult to work with Malfroy, but do you have to talk about him all the time, we've still got that potions homework to do." "Well, what could Snape do? I mean he must know how Malfroy's life is in our hands" "Ron! How could you even think something like that?" Hermione asked outraged. Ron looked sheepishly around the common room, luckily there weren't many people in there, Harry was at a Quidditch practice, and as it was Saturday most of the Gryffindor's were taking the opportunity to get outside whilst the weather was still fine. "But he.he's a." His sentence faded under Hermione's hard stare. "Look Ron, do you think that Dumbledore would make us do this if he didn't think that there was a good reason?" "I don't really care Hermione, he's killed people, muggles and wizards, what Dumbledore thinks don't change the fact that he is a cold blooded murderer." Hermione stayed silent, as her parents were muggles she didn't really hear much about the wizarding world whilst she was at home, Harry and Ron of course had kept her informed about you-know-who's downfall, but she hadn't heard this. "What? Are you sure?" "Yes, my father told me, the ministry aren't sure exactly just how many people Malfroy himself killed, but they do know for certain that he was at the very least involved with 4 killings." "But why isn't he in jail?" "Dumbledore, he's convinced that Malfroy is innocent, he holds a lot of power within the ministry, many of them owe him their lives." "So what you're saying is that Dumbledore called in these debts and got him off?" "No one knows for sure, but that's what it looks like." "But, that doesn't make any sense; Dumbledore wouldn't let Malfroy go if he was guilty."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~ Harry, Ron and Hermione were sat at the Gryffindor table eating dinner, although they were all less than pleased to be within a mile radius of Malfroy let alone protecting him, they still took it seriously. As Harry had said 'Dumbledore is relying on them.' "So when are we leaving?" Ron asked in a hushed voice. "Tomorrow evening, after dinner." Hermione replied. "How long is it gonna take to get there?" "A couple of days there and back, Professor McGonagall has showed me the route we are going to take to cause the least amount of suspicion within the, 'dark circles'." "What if they figure out what's going on?" Harry asked trying to disguise the fear surfacing in his voice. "I mean we're not even fully qualified wizards yet, what chance do we have against death eaters." "Well we've got Draco, and he's a death eater." "Hermione somehow that's not reassuring!" "Oh Ron will you just . be quiet. We all know that you hate Malfroy, we all feel the same but your pessimistic thinking isn't helping." "Sorry Hermione." Ron said meekly. "Okay guys time out. What are we going to need?" "Well, we'll need muggle money and clothes, some food, but don't worry McGonagall has got everything sorted."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~ Draco sat bolt upright in bed, his breaths coming in short gasps. He ran a shaky hand through his hair and sighed in relief. It was just a dream. He couldn't remember the last time he'd had an uninterrupted nights sleep, he was being plagued by nightmares about what he'd been forced to do. Even his waking hours were inundated by the screams of terror he'd received just before. Draco got out of bed fumbling through the half darkness he made his way to the bathroom at the other side of the dormitory. Carefully closing the door behind him, Draco walked over to the serpentine inlaid sink. He stood over the sink staring at his reflection in the mirror, it was the third time it had happened that night, and he looked all the worse for it. Dropping his eyes from the haunted face staring back at him he turned on the tap letting the cool water flow over his trembling hands. Taking a few deep breaths to steady his rapidly fraying nerves he forced himself to look back up. 'Get a grip' he thought to himself. 'This is no way for a Malfroy to be behaving, you're stronger than this.' Shaking his head slightly he opened the door and crossed over to his bed, he checked the time on his pocket watch, it was 5:30am. Draco shuddered in just over 12 hours he'd be on his way to see father again, and if that wasn't bad enough he had a baby sitter by the name of Harry Potter.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~ The next day passed too quickly for anyone's liking, it seemed as if time was going at double speed, even potions seemed to be over much too quickly for their liking. They'd been given instructions by Professor McGonagall to go to Dumbledore's office straight after they had finished dinner. Harry sat nervously glancing at the Slytherin table trying to spot Draco. "Who are you looking for?" Ron asked Harry. "Malfroy." "Why?" "Because." "That's not an answer." Ron complained. "Maybe I don't have a better one, but right now I'd like to know where he is." "Look as much as I hate to admit it, and I do, Draco could probably look after himself better than we can, the last thing you want to start doing is worrying about him." "You're right as always, but Hermione seems to think that he's." "Just misunderstood, tell me about it, but you don't seriously believe that do you?" Ron asked in disbelief. "No, have you finished? I wanna get this over with." "Yeah come on, Hermione should be there by now." "I wonder what McGonagall has given her?" "Let's go and find out."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~ Hermione was sat in Dumbledore's office with a bag at her feet, she smiled at Harry and Ron as they took the chairs next to her. "Whoa, that's a big bag Hermione what's in it?" Ron asked. "Well, I've been given supplies of muggle money, clothes plus identification, just in case, plus a few books on spells which we might need." "Books!" Ron exclaimed. "I thought that we would be getting away from them for a while." "There are always hidden clauses Mr Weasley one of which is that you will be improving your defence against the dark arts." Dumbledore said as he walked through a curtained doorway. Draco was following behind him; he slumped into the last empty chair and sighed. "I trust Professor McGonagall has given you sufficient provisions Miss Granger?" "Yes, we're ready to go." "And what about you Mr Potter you don't look like you're very ready." "I am Professor; it's just that I'm a little confused." "What's troubling you?" "I don't understand why, why us?" "As I have already said it will be easier for you to escape detection." "Professor what I think Potter means is why them, they hate me and I hate them." Draco said. "How eloquently put Mr Malfroy, I am not at liberty to say why, but know that it is my opinion that you couldn't be in better hands." With that Dumbledore effectively silenced any protests and reluctantly they set out for their first stop, the Hogwarts express station.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~ It was dark and it was cold, they had been left by Professor Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall nearly half an hour ago, and the cold was starting to eat away at them. The orange glow from the torches illuminating the platform was scattering shadows. Hermione checked her watch once again, still an agonising 15 minutes until the train arrived why Dumbledore had insisted they leave so early was a mystery to her. "Hermione." Ron called from his seat next to Harry, Hermione stood under the light of the torches. Draco was sat deep in the shadows of another bench further down from Harry and Ron. "How much longer?" "How many times are you going to ask that question Weasley, the arrival time hasn't changed since you asked a minute ago." "Hey Malfroy." Ron spat back not hiding the hatred in his voice. "If it wasn't for you then we wouldn't be sat on this freezing bench waiting for a train. So just shut up." "Is that really the best you can do." He drawled. "Moaning like a little girl you think I want to be here, this is hardly my idea of fun." "FUN!" Ron exploded jumping to his feet. "Fun would be hitting you with an extremely heavy . thing." "Oh no now I'm really scared, I'll never be able to walk in front of you again." "That's it Malfroy." Ron said reaching for his wand. "STOP IT!" Hermione yelled, everyone turned to look at her. "This is no good, we're never going to get anywhere like this not to mention the attention you two will draw to your selves if you keep shouting at each other." "Hermione's right." Harry said standing between his best friend and his worst enemy. "We have to call a truce." "A truce?" Ron cried indignantly "Why you heard what he's been saying." "Just a temporary one." Hermione quickly added. "Malfroy?" Harry said. "Oh I suppose so." He said suddenly sounding very tried and strained. "Ron?" He asked again carefully noting Draco's sudden change. "Ok." ~*~*~*~*~*~ 


End file.
